Thursday 21 May 2009

Doting Spouses

After a few culinary indulgences, husband and I decided to buckle down and get healthy. Hubby's ma and pa are going to be in town in a month and my husband wants to get in shape so that he can indulge in his mother's cooking without guilt (I married a planner). We worked on coming up with some guidelines that will help us eat healthier. These guidelines were as usual readily augmented by advice doled out by a friend who supplies the list while stuffing her face with pizza and starting the day with ribbon pakoda (yeah you know who are - C). Oh and remaining thin (aaarggh).

So here goes. -

- Use only olive oil. (Zero cholestrol)

- Buy vegetables/fruits based on colour. Weekly intake of every colour is apparently important. Here is the very helpful link C sent me.

- Do not overheat oil cos that will produce Trans Fat.

- Plan meals ahead so that you know what you going to eat at - say snack time on Friday at 4pm (phew that's work)

- Reduce dairy according to one

- Reduce carbohydrates according to another

- Include soluble fiber that is different apparently from the fibre that is - you guessed it insoluble (wtf). Excellent for reducing cholesterol.

And so on and so forth.

Since following all of these rules would result in a plate of colourful vegetables in cold olive oil with oats (soluble fiber) a less extreme meal plan was sought.

So we settled on relatively healthy food with a mix of fresh vegetables. Husband packed lunch and lugged it with him to office and assured me that he loves eating his dubba khanna while his coworkers amble off to get a piping hot lunch from the many, many options that New York City offers.

Three long days of measuring, poring and chewing high fiber meals went by. For dinner last night I was all set to bring on the cheese and grease. But I did not want to be the one to ruin the streak that we were having and when husband came home last night, I suggested a couple of meals options with mushrooms and greens. Husband put on his thinking face and seemed to be weighing the dinner options with gravity.

I stepped into the restroom to wash my face and freshen up before a healthy, nutritious meal :(.

Husband (on other side of door) - tho aaj bahaar jaathe hain kya? We need to buy milk

Me (being nice since husband had been up at 4 in the morning running errands for his not always demanding wife) - I will go get it, you relax.

Husband - vaise we are both tired..

Me - haan and you have been up forever...

Husband - we need a break....

Me (finally catching on and seeing the light) - haan we do... tired, yeah, I am also tired. I have a nagging headache from all that work. This bug became an emergency today (laying it on thick so he can't back out now).

Husband - thooooo... hmmmm... taco bell se take out karthe hain kya....

Me (doing victory dance, but quietly so that he sweats a little bit on the other side of the door) -hmmmm teeeekh hai... chalthe hain.

5 minutes later...

Me (dressed set to go) - vaise margarita mix bhi hai... taco bell ke saath... a drink for u, u are tired...

Husband - haan haan. It might also help with your headache (he catches on quick)...


Recipe - Alu methi... (made in olive oil by us of course)

8 comments:

Indian Homemaker said...

LOL :) We do this too! Go through massive planning to eat healthy and wholesome and then go binge :)

You have made this so interesting and funny :) Loved your 'catching on quick' :)

Phoenixritu said...

LOL! We do this all the time too. And then one of us rebels and gets this yummy take away from somewhere and we all pile on - all the while hamming 'I really wanted to eat healthy'.

We are hams

stringOfPearls said...

IHM - thank you :). yeah we have already gone through this cycle twice within the short span of a week. You would think we would learn

Ritu - LOL! Husband spent 10 exits rejecting all restaurants cos they were unhealthy and we ended up tackling and defeating a large Pizza at pizza hut .... :) We are hams indeed

Titaxy said...

LOL, this always happens. I've been trying to 'eat healthy' and all but for some reason or the other find myself eating out (mostly junk) at least once or twice a week...*sigh*

padmaja said...

haha.. these cutting down of carbs and fat, etc never work for me! but i just read this book called 'don't lose your mind, lose your weight' and i absolutely worship rujuta diwaker! here's a book that finally tells u to eat to lose weight!!!

stringOfPearls said...

Ersa - join the club...

Padmaja - I have to check out this book. This worked for you, is that what you are saying?

padmaja said...

yes!! it does work for me! what she says is a mixture of age-old wisdom which we chose to ignore, (like don't have distractions while eating, chew your food, etc) But believe me, now i eat only 60% of my normal portions to feel full! and she gives you basic eating principles to follow for the rest of ur life, not just for a week or so. definitely worth a read!

stringOfPearls said...

padmaja - I will try to read up on this. Hope it helps me too :)

A Woman Second

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